Researchers: Fracking’s Days May Be Numbered

A team of researchers are predicting that the booming fracking industry may be headed for a serious bust.

A recent article on the science website Nature.com notes, "The United States is banking on decades of abundant nature gas to power its economic resurgence."

That, says the article, may amount to "wishful thinking."

Tad Patzek, of the University of Texas at Austin's department of petroleum and geosystems engineering, says evidence indicates the bullish predictions for frackingand may be based on assumptions that are "overly optimistic." Patzek is a member of a team that is conducting in-depth analyses.

Patzak's projections (explained in greater depth here) are a stark contrast to the more upbeat scenarios predicted by the US Energy Information Administration.

With companies trying to extract shale gas as fast as possible and export significant quantities, he argues, “we're setting ourselves up for a major fiasco”.

[NATURE.COM]